This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/373,313, filed Apr. 18, 2002.
The present invention relates to hinge mechanisms for vehicle seat assemblies, and more particularly, to a hinge mechanism which can be deployed to provide a vehicle seat assembly having, inter alia, reclining, dumping and fold-flat functionality.
Passenger vehicles are known which have vehicle seat assemblies provided with reclining and fold-flat functionality, whereby the seat back may be selectively reclined about a pivot axis through a range of substantially upright, occupiable positions, for selection by the user of a preferred seating position, and also may be pivoted frontwardly to a xe2x80x9cfold-flatxe2x80x9d position, whereat the seat back substantially overlies the seat cushion in a generally horizontal orientation. In the case of, for example, a front row passenger seat in a 2+2 coupe, a minivan or the like, placing the seat back at its fold-flat position facilitates carriage of large or lengthy objects, such as skis or lumber, inside the vehicle.
It is known for seat assemblies to be also provided with dumping functionality whereby the seat back may be, by manipulation of a lever or the like, tilted frontwardly about said pivot axis to a so-called xe2x80x9cdumped positionxe2x80x9d whereat it projects over the seat cushion to facilitate ingress and egress to and from the interior space in the vehicle to the rear of the seat assembly, for example, to allow occupant access to a rear row seat, in the case of a 2+2 coupe, or a third row seat, in the case of a minivan.
Rotary recliners are commonly utilized in hinge mechanisms to provide such reclining and fold-flat functionality, since they have their working components substantially enclosed (which lends reliability and safety), are relatively lightweight, quiet in use, fit into a relatively small design envelope and are known to be capable of relatively inexpensive manufacture. Exemplary rotary recliners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,313 (Rohee), issued Jul. 14, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,679 (Smuk et al.), issued Jan. 8, 2002, which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Attempts have also been made in the prior art to utilize rotary recliners to attain dumping functionality. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,053 (Magyar), issued Nov. 6, 2001, there is disclosed a seat assembly including a rotary recliner which provides for the seat back to be rapidly pivoted frontwardly by turning a recliner knob. However, this assembly suffers in that the recliner knob is inconveniently positioned adjacent the base of the seat assembly, and further suffers in that, in a rapid tilt operation, the seat back travels pivotally frontwardly until it meets the seat cushion, which may be inconvenient if, for example, the functionality was inadvertently triggered while fragile goods were positioned on the seat cushion.
Other mechanisms are known to provide such reclining, fold-flat and dumping functionality, but utilize a separate load bearing lock or latch for each function, actuated by independent actuation mechanisms, adding complexity and cost. Another problem with this xe2x80x9clatch upon latchxe2x80x9d approach of the prior art is that it multiplies the number of issues related to strength, durability, reliability, release effort and noise. Lastly, the xe2x80x9clatch upon latchxe2x80x9d approach results in tolerance stacking problems, which, in turn, raises rattling, jamming and other quality control concerns.
All of these issues are of serious concern to present-day vehicle manufacturers, who demand continually higher quality content at increasingly lower prices.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle seat assembly having, inter alia, reclining, dumping and fold-flat functionality that is relatively reliable, safe, lightweight, quiet in use, small and inexpensive to manufacture and that does not utilize separate load bearing locks or latches for each of the foregoing functions.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed an improved vehicle seat assembly for use in a vehicle of the type having a front end, a rear end, a longitudinal axis extending between the front end and the rear end, a lateral axis arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis and a floor.
The vehicle seat assembly is of the type having a seat including a seat cushion, a seat back and a rotary recliner. The seat cushion has a seat cushion mounting bracket, and, in use, is operatively mounted on said floor. The seat back has a seat back mounting bracket. The rotary recliner comprises a first portion and second portion. The first portion is securely attached to said seat cushion mounting bracket and defines a pivot axis, said pivot axis, in use, extending in a substantially lateral manner and being disposed adjacent the rear end of the seat cushion. The second portion is mounted to the first portion for selective relative pivotal movement about said pivot axis and has the seat back mounting bracket securely attached thereto so as to provide, in use, for selective pivotal movement of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion about said pivot axis within a first range of angular positions.
The first range of angular positions includes a second range of positions whereat the seat is occupiable, said second range including a design position of the seat back. The first range further includes a dumped position relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the second range and a frontmost position, relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the dumped position.
The improvement comprises a tip activation handle, a control member, mounting means, first linkage means and abutment means.
The tip activation handle is mounted on the seat back for movement between a design position, a tipping position and an intermediate position therebetween.
The mounting means is for mounting the control member on the seat back for pivotal movement therewith about the pivot axis and for movement relative thereto between a first position and a second position.
The abutment means is for selectively, when the control member is at its second position and the seat back is at its dumped position, engaging the control member to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the control member, thereby to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the seat back about the pivot axis at the dumped position thereof when the control member is at its second position.
The first linkage means is for selectively effecting movement of the control member between its first position and its second position upon movement of the tip activation handle between its design position and its intermediate position and for controlling the rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion upon movement of the tip activation handle to its tipping position.
This provides, when the seat back is within the second range and upon manual manipulation of the tip activation handle from its design position to its tipping position, for said first linkage means to control said rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion only after the control member has reached its second position, so as to ensure that frontward pivotal movement of the seat back about the pivot axis beyond the dumped position thereof is arrested by the abutment means.
As another aspect, the invention also comprises a hinge mechanism for use in a seat assembly for a vehicle of the type having a front end, a rear end, a longitudinal axis extending between the front end and the rear end, a lateral axis arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis and a floor.
The hinge mechanism is of the type having a seat cushion mounting bracket, a seat back mounting bracket, a rotary recliner and a control shaft.
The seat cushion mounting bracket, in use, forms part of a vehicle seat cushion and is operatively mounted on said floor.
The seat back mounting bracket, in use, forms part of a vehicle seat back.
The rotary recliner comprises a first portion and a second portion.
The first portion is securely attached to said seat cushion mounting bracket and defines a pivot axis, said pivot axis, in use, extending in a substantially lateral manner and being disposed adjacent the rear end of said seat cushion.
The second portion is mounted to the first portion for selective relative pivotal movement about said pivot axis and has the seat back mounting bracket securely attached thereto so as to provide, in use, for selective pivotal movement of said seat back with respect to the seat cushion about said pivot axis within a first range of angular positions.
The first range of angular positions includes a second range of positions, whereat said seat back and said seat cushion form an occupiable seat, said second range including a design position of said seat back.
The first range further includes a dumped position relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the second range and a frontmost position, relatively frontwardly pivotally displaced from the dumped position.
The control shaft is mounted to the rotary recliner for pivotal movement about the pivot axis between a disengaged position and an engaged position, the control shaft being biased for movement towards its engaged position and operably coupled to the rotary recliner such that said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion is permitted when the control shaft is at its disengaged position and is arrested when the control shaft is at its engaged position.
The improvement comprises a tip activation handle, a control member, mounting means, abutment means and first linkage means.
The tip activation handle is mountable on said seat back for movement between a design position, a tipping position and an intermediate position therebetween.
The mounting means is for mounting the control member on the seat back mounting bracket for pivotal movement therewith about the pivot axis in use and for movement relative thereto between a first position and a second position, preferably, for constrained substantially radial relative movement between said first position and said second position, and preferably comprises a radial slot and a link member.
The radial slot is formed through the seat back mounting bracket and defines a translation axis.
The link member has a first end mounted to the seat back mounting bracket by a pin and socket mechanism and a second end mounted within said radial slot for translational movement along said translation axis between limit positions defined by the ends of said radial slot. The second end of said link member is connected to said control member to drive the control member between its first position and its second position upon movement of the second end of the link member between its limit positions.
The abutment means is for selectively, when the control member is at its second position and said seat back is at its dumped position, engaging the control member to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the control member about the pivot axis, thereby to arrest frontward pivotal movement of the seat back about the pivot axis at the dumped position thereof when the control member is at its second position.
The first linkage means is for selectively effecting movement of the control member between its first position and its second position upon movement of the tip activation handle between its design position and its intermediate position and for controlling the rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion upon movement of the tip activation handle to its tipping position.
The first linkage means preferably comprises a first spring, a crank and a first Bowden cable.
The first spring is operably connected between the seat back mounting bracket and the link member for biasing the control member for movement towards its first position.
The crank rigidly extends from the control shaft, in a radial direction substantially transverse to said translation axis, to a free end.
The first Bowden cable, in use, has the opposed ends of its inner wire operably connected to the tip activation handle and to the free end of the crank and the opposed ends of its sheath operably connected to said seat back and to the link member such that, when the tip activation handle is at its design position with the control member at its first position and the control shaft at its engaged position, movement of the tip activation handle from its design position to its intermediate position causes movement of the control member to its second position and such that, when the control member is at its second position with the control shaft at its engaged position and the tip activation handle at its intermediate position, movement of the tip actuation handle to its tipping position causes rotation of the control shaft to its disengaged position.
This provides, when the seat back is within the second range and upon manual manipulation of the tip activation handle from its design position to its tipping position, for said first linkage means to control said rotary recliner to permit said relative pivotal movement of the first portion and the second portion only after the control member has reached its second position, so as to ensure that frontward pivotal movement of said seat back about the pivot axis beyond the dumped position is arrested by the abutment means.